GYV alumni circle the globe
November 1, 2011
Since 1979 we have over 4,000 people from over 100 countries that have joined the GYV family. They are leaving LEGACIES of peace, tolerance and justice around the globe.
Keep in touch with each other. Share the GYV experience and the impact it had in your life. Help a young upcoming leader to participate in this summer’s Global Youth Village.
Building Community
July 13, 2011
Global Youth Village international summer camp is all about building a community. On the first day of the session, Orientation Day, Peacebuilding and Dialogue Workshop teacher Jennifer Lewis led participants in an exercise in which they created a visual representation of their ideal community. There were a lot of common themes – renewal, energy/green technology, people living in harmony, and end to hunger and poverty. We then discussed the idea that GYV can become a microcosm, or a testing ground, where they work on creating their ideal community. Mid-way through the session, we had a community meeting to check in with how the GYV community was developing and what participants and staff could do it improve it. Participants were paired with a staff member who was there to assist them, but the young people themselves were responsible for leading the small group discussions. Leadership is a key theme during the program. Groups spent a few minutes brainstorming before narrowing down their ideas to the best and most effective. As I wandered between the groups, I was impressed by how thoughtful and thought-provoking the ideas they were generating were. There were the silly ideas I expected to hear – a zip line to get people down the hill to dinner, air conditioning in the cabins, more ice cream – which we all giggled over, but there were also a lot of ideas that helped the staff see some of the gaps and points of frustration in the program and which helped the participants see what they could do themselves to make the experience better for everyone. Many of the ideas they came up with had to do with efforts the participants could undertake themselves – including people more in activities, making an effort to speak a common language, saying please and thank you, sitting with someone they didn’t know at a meal. Others involved projects that would bring participants together while improving their physical surroundings, such as painting murals on the cabins or building a shady spot to sit in the afternoons. One of the favorite suggestions was to create a forum where students can continue the discussion they start in their workshops or start new discussions. Some ideas suggested included a question board where people could post ideas that they wanted to talk about. The staff sometimes assumes that the participants are talked out after so many workshops and afternoon activities, but apparently we were wrong. The first discussion took place the following afternoon. Participants convened and led the discussion, which was on moral relativity, but staff were invited to take part, and a few did. The discussion grew out of a discussion in peace building, where participants declared that before they could decide if they agreed on any shared morals, they needed to decide where those morals came from. Topics for subsequent discussions are still being decided, but we all expect that the vibrant, lively discussions will continue until the end of the session, and that participants will leave with a plethora of new ideas and questions about how to build their ideal community. Submitted by Sarah Rose Jensen, Youth Services Director
Iraqi Participants make Dolma
July 25, 2010
Each year we have participants try their hand in the kitchen by making a dish for everyone during dinner. This year our Iraqi participants made Dolma, a favorite Iraqi dish. It is a very traditional dish mader with squash, onions, green peppers, tomatos and rice.
DOLMA
3 cups uncooked white rice
1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon curry powder (optional)
1 (16 ounce) jar grape leaves, drained and rinsed
3 Large Onions
4 Large Green Peppers
4 Large green squash
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 potato, sliced into rounds
1 cup canned tomato sauce
2 cups water, or as needed
Directions
1.In a medium bowl, mix together the uncooked rice, parsley, allspice, pepper and curry powder until well blended.
2.Pour oil into the bottom of a large pot, and spread to cover. Make a layer of potato slices to cover the bottom of the pan. The dolmas should not be able to touch the bottom of the pan.
3.Lay the grape leaves out flat on a cutting board. Place about a tablespoon of the rice mixture in the center of one leaf. Fold sides in towards the center, then roll up from the bottom loosely. Set in the pot seam side down. Repeat with the remaining mixture and leaves. For large leaves, you may cut them in half at the center vein. Place a heavy dinner plate on top of the dolma to keep them from unraveling. The cooking pot should be about 2/3 full.
4. Carve out the squash, green peppers and onions. Stuff all three of these with the rice mixture as well and add into the pot with the grape leaves.
5.Pour tomato sauce and water over the dolma. The liquid should cover them by at least one inch. Adjust the amount of water if necessary. Bring to a boil, then cover, and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until all liquid has been absorbed and rice is tender.
